ICCS Logo

Love

Do you like our logo? It was created by a member of our society, David Walker, and captures the essence of our society. It has 2 components: a heart and a house. When we get distracted by conflicts, stressful situations, challenging problems, and the complexities of dealing with people who are in crisis, we can look at that big red heart and remember that what makes us more than an organization is the motivation to love others.

Yep, love. You don’t see that word in many job descriptions, do you? It’s in ours. We in the helping profession, who provide care and attention to others, can do so for a variety of reasons. If we help people but we don’t do it out of a warm human heart, our good works can go to our heads, inflate our egos, stroke our desire to be recognized as heroes, rescuers, caring people.

Love is a deep spiritual reality which stabilizes us and preserves right action. It also ensures happiness. This article from the New York Times by David Brooks describes a 72-year study of 268 men who attended Harvard College. They were gifted, affluent and apparently well-adjusted. It is a fascinating article and the conclusion of the man who oversaw the work for 42 years was that “Love is happiness. Full stop.” The degree of happiness in a person’s life depends on the quality of human relationships.

There is a verse in the Bible that says, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

That is what that heart in our logo is all about. Another problem is that caring for people can be exhausting. People arrive at our programs with deep needs. When we respond to those needs with empathy, when we feed someone who is hungry, shelter someone who is cold and alone, open our doors to someone who is traumatized, and reach out to someone who is scared and angry, we make tangible the best qualities of the human spirit.

The House in our Logo is a reminder that lofty words like love and empathy have to be translated into practical, down to earth service. A house is a solid structure, and structure and order are essential when your life is out of control and chaotic. It’s important to realize that the best thing we can do for people sometimes is to provide a predictable, steady, structured environment.

We often talk at ICCS about the Mary and Martha principle which recognizes that teams are made up of people with different skills and abilities. Some of us are good at the heart stuff, and some are good at the house stuff. Both Mary and Martha share the same values they just express those values differently. These values are universal — safety, fairness, community, respect, and wellness.

But there is more in our logo.

Openness

The heart and house are both open. This is because people are welcomed into our programs with openness. Our houses are open so that people can get in out of the rain and rest, and our hearts are open because real empathy doesn’t control or dominate people, real compassion looks for opportunities to meet people’s needs in ways that respect their autonomy and identity. It is a big heart, and we believe it reflect the big heart of God which loves everyone equally. By emulating that example we will make the world a kinder, friendlier place.

Freedom

The top of the heart also resembles a bird, because that is our hope for everyone who is a part of what we do, that they will experience lightness and sense of rising above, taking flight, soaring.

Of course not everything we do can be contained in our logo, but it is a pretty good touchstone.